This will sound corny but ABC Soup is as easy as ABC to make! A staple in most Chinese households, it's the ultimate affordable and nutritious comfort food that is perfect on a rainy day. (I have tested it with a bouillon cube, broth made with a whole chicken, pork ribs, pork bones etc.)
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⭐ Why This Recipe is a Star
- Healthy Soup: This easy Chinese soup is so named because it has Vitamin A from the carrots, Vitamin B from the potatoes and Vitamin C from the tomatoes!
- Simple recipe: Chinese ABC Soup so easy to make, it's a 1-step recipe! Serve with a bowl of rice for a nutritious and easy meal.
- Kid-friendly soup: Not all Asian recipes are suitable for children's soups. For example, Silkie Chicken soup and Chicken Ginseng soup can have a herbal flavor that children don't enjoy. Others, such as Chicken Feet Soup, have unusual ingredients that put not just kids, but also some adults, off! Luckily, Chinese ABC Soup is tasty and healthy but with no difficult to accept flavors or ingredients, so it will work for the whole family.
P.S. If you like this quick soup, you'll love Chinese Napa Cabbage soup which is on the dinner table in 20 minutes!
Pork vs Chicken
Pork
- Tastier
- More hearty and great for a cold winter day (may feel too heavy if the weather is hot)
- More time consuming as you MUST black pork first.
- Economical: if you're not living in an Asian community, the butcher near you may be happy to give you the pork bones for free. Moreover, after only 1 hour of cooking, the bones still have plenty of flavor in them so you can-use them in other soups.
Chicken
- Lighter flavor
- Saves time: you can skip blanching and just skim off the scum when simmering OR use a stock cube!
- Acceptable to more people: some people don't consume pork.
🥘 Ingredients
You will need a few simple, readily available ingredients:
- stock: I have made the soup with both chicken drumsticks, a whole chicken, bouillon cubes, and pork, and find that the soup is much more flavorful with pork bones or pork ribs. However, chicken stock is lighter, so some may prefer it in summer. If you can, simmer the chicken carcass for longer to make the chicken broth more tasty. (If using a chicken stock cube, use 1.5 cubes to 6 cups of water.) If vegetarian, substitute with vegetable stock and add some tomato paste or tomato soup to boost the umami.
- carrot: this makes the soup sweeter. Cut it into rounds
- potatoes: peeled and cut into halves or cubes, depending on how big your potatoes are. (Waxy potatoes are a good choice as they won't dissolve in the hot soup.)
- tomatoes: cut into wedges.
- corn: this isn't part of the basic recipe but I like to add sweet corn as it makes the soup more attractive and corn cobs are great in soup stock! Cut into at least 3 or 4 pieces. (If you cut them into 2, they will be too big.)
- white pepper, optional: use ground white pepper or toasted white peppercorns for a more authentic Chinese flavor. However, if you don't have it, just skip it. (If you do add it, add a bit at a time and taste as you go because a little packs a punch!) Note that black pepper is not a substitute for white pepper although some recipes use it.
📖 Variations & Substitutes
You can also add:
- The basic version is the stock, carrots, onions and potatoes but the recipe is very flexible. You can add a medium onion or even baby spinach if you walk to bulk up the veg content.
- For more protein: add Chinese meatballs, leftover roast turkey or ground beef.
- small pasta: e.g. macaroni to make it a complete meal. If you're giving it to kids, try to use pasta with fun shapes such as tiny star pasta or ABC pasta.
- Slow cooker: this is a perfect soup to cook in the slow cooker. In this case, do not use a bouillon cube. Instead place a whole chicken or pork ribs as well as the carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and corn in the slow cooker. Cover with water and cook for 6-8 hours.
- For more umami: you can add ikan bilis, dried shrimp or dried kelp. I'm not a fan of adding dried shiitake mushrooms as I find the flavor overwhelms the vegetable soup flavour.
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
If using pork or chicken bones/ meat: blanch first
- Place the meat or bones in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil to blanch and remove the scum.
- Simmer for 2-3 minutes, then pour away the dirty water. Wash the bones and put them in a 2nd clean pot.
- Note: Blanching can be skipped with chicken if short on time- just skim off the scum produced as you simmer.
Note: if using a stock cube, just dissolve it in the 6 cups of water before pouring over the carrots, tomatoes etc and simmering.
Cooking the soup
- Add the rest of ingredients (except the salt and pepper) to a 2nd clean large pot or Dutch Oven. Pour the 6 cups of water over them.
- Bring to the boil over medium high or medium heat then lower heat to a simmer.
- Simmer for a minimum of 45 minutes to 1 hour. (If you plan to cook it for longer, add the tomatoes 30-45 minutes before you stop cooking or they'll disintegrate.)
- Season to taste with the salt and, if using, white pepper before serving.
🥡 How to Store
Store extra in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Bring to the boil when reheating.
🥗 Suggested Accompanying Recipes
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Chinese ABC Soup recipe
This will sound corny but ABC Soup is as easy as ABC to make! A staple in most Chinese households, it's the ultimate affordable and nutritious comfort food that is perfect on a rainy day. (I have tested it with a bouillon cube, broth made with a whole chicken, pork ribs, pork bones etc.)
Equipment
- Large pot or Dutch Oven You will need 2 if you're using pork (the 2nd pot is to blanch the pork before cooking the soup.)
Ingredients
- 2 oz pork bones Substitute: a whole chicken, equal amount of pork ribs or an equal amount of chicken parts. (You can substitute with 1½ chicken stock cubes.) If using pork, please bring the meat or bones to the boil in cold water to blanch and remove the scum. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, then pour off the dirty water, wash the bones and add to a 2nd clean pot. (Blanching can be skipped with chicken if short on time- just skim off the scum.)
- 6 Cups water If you find the water level goes too low as you're simmering, add ½-1 cup more.
- 2-3 waxy potatoes halved or cut in cubes, depending on size
- 3-4 tomatoes cut into wedges. You can also use cherry tomatoes cut in half. This will make the soup sweeter.
- 1 carrot cut into rounds. You can peel or not, depending on your preference. Not peeling will make the carrot a bit chewier.
- 2 corn cobs Cut into 3 or 4. Do not cut into 2- the pieces will be too big.
- 1½ teaspoon salt or to taste. Season at the end- if you add it at the start, you may inadvertently make it too salty because the water will boil off as you simmer. (The amount of water that boils off will vary depending on how strong your fire is so you may need more or less salt.)
- 1 teaspoon white pepper optional, or to taste. The flavor is strong so add it ¼ teaspoon at a time and taste as you go.
Instructions
Blanching (if using a stock cube, skip to the section below)
- Place the meat or bones in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil to blanch and remove the scum.
- Simmer for 2-3 minutes, then pour away the dirty water. Wash the bones and put them in a 2nd clean pot. Note: Blanching can be skipped with chicken if short on time- just skim off the scum produced as you simmer.
Cooking the soup
- Add the 6 cups of water to the chicken or pork bones/ meat in the 2nd pot and bring to the boil. (Note: if using the stock cubes, dissolve the stock cubes in the water then bring to the boil.)
- Once boiling, add the rest of the ingredients (except for the salt and pepper) then educe the heat to a simmer.
- Simmer for 45-60 minutes. (If you use a rolling boil, your tomatoes will disintegrate.) Before serving, season with salt and pepper, to taste.Note: if you want firmer tomatoes, add them 5-10 minutes before you switch off the fire. Potatoes, corn and carrots are more firm so you don't have to worry so much about them breaking apart.
Notes
For variations, refer to post above.
Storage: Store extra in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. Bring to the boil when reheating.
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
Calories: 138kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 4gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.4gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.2gTrans Fat: 0.003gSodium: 931mgPotassium: 874mgFiber: 4gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 3408IUVitamin C: 26mgCalcium: 38mgIron: 1mg
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